Trump returns to Manhattan in the wake of New York AG announcing criminal investigation into his company

Former president spotted on Fifth Avenue on Monday morning

Donald Trump has been spotted arriving at Trump Tower in Manhattan only days after New York’s attorney general announced a criminal investigation into his business.

The former president recently relocated for the summer from his new home at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, to the cooler climes of his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

He was spotted getting out of a car outside his New York City address and once full-time residence on Fifth Avenue on Monday morning.

Letitia James announced her probe into the dealing of the Trump Organization last week, upgrading it from an investigation into civil tax offences to potential criminal activity.

There is a particular focus on the company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, who is facing two criminal investigations into his actions at the company, amid much speculation that he may flip and turn on his longtime boss.

A concurrent investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is looking at similar allegations about Mr Trump’s business dealings in the run-up to his presidency.

In a lengthy blog post in response to the news of the attorney general’s investigation, the former president wrote: “The Attorney General of New York literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump even before she knew anything about me. She said that if elected, she would use her office to look into ‘every aspect’ of my real estate dealings.”

Mr Trump seen outside Trump Tower on Monday 24 May 2021 (GC Images)

He continued: “She swore that she would ‘definitely sue’ me. She boasted on video that she would be, and I quote, ‘a real pain in the ass’. She declared, ‘just wait until I’m in the Attorney General’s office’, and, ‘I’ve got my eyes on Trump Tower’.

Mr Trump went on to say: “The Attorney General made each of these statements, not after having had an opportunity to actually look at the facts, but BEFORE she was even elected, BEFORE she had seen even a shred of evidence. This is something that happens in failed third-world countries, not the United States. If you can run for a prosecutor’s office pledging to take out your enemies and be elected to that job by partisan voters who wish to enact political retribution, then we are no longer a free constitutional democracy.”

While the Trumps officially declared Florida their place of residency before they left the White House, historically they do not go to Palm Beach during the hotter, humid summer months aligned with hurricane season.

(GC Images)

The family once occupied the three-story penthouse of Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan, but would no longer be welcomed by the majority of New Yorkers.

Joe Biden won 86.7 per cent of the vote in Manhattan in the 2020 election, with only just over 12 per cent voting for Mr Trump.